As a young man, Cudi moved from his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio, to New York City, to pursue a music career.

He revealed a snippet of the remix was briefly previewed on the intro of his 2008 breakout mixtape A Kid Named Cudi.

The remix was slated to appear on 2014's Satellite Flight: The Journey to Mother Moon, however it failed to make the cut and was ultimately unreleased.

The remix was first published as a free download by Fool's Gold Records in March 2008,[15] and released commercially in the United States in August 2008.

[16] It was released in the United Kingdom in January 2009 through Data Records,[17] debuting and peaking at number two on the UK Singles Chart for two weeks, behind Lady Gaga's "Just Dance".

The pop art music video was produced by Imetrages and also features a brief cameo appearance from Travis Barker.

It features Cudi walking around Los Angeles, doing a variety of mundane activities such as getting a slice of pizza, grocery shopping, or visiting a bar, but the overlay of graphic colors on top of the actual video disguises or transforms the daily scene into one of fantasy.

These fantasized versions of reality reference the film The Wizard of Oz and later manifest Cudi's desire to perform music; ultimately they play on the song's theme of the "lonely stoner" whose quotidian existence transforms because of his ability to "free his mind."

It features Cudi as an employee at a typical British corner shop called "Day 'n' Nite", with a reference that he smoked marijuana after his manager left him with the keys.

[25][26] The third video that was released (also for The Crookers remix) was actually shot before the others in 2008, by New York directing duo, BBGUN.

"Day 'n' Nite" has been covered by American alternative rock band Sugar Ray, live in concert and have recorded their version for RAWsession.

[29][30] It was also interpolated by American rapper Travis Scott on his track, “Through the Late Night”, which features Cudi.

In 2022, British rock band Coldplay covered the song and officially released it through Spotify Singles.

[31] Also in 2022, Canadian soul band Chiiild, released a cover of the song exclusively through Amazon Music, as part of their Black History Month rollout.